Scores of fire officials gather to honor retired West Springfield Fire Chief John Flaherty and his commitment to regional training center

09/14/11 Springfield- Republican Photo by Mark M.Murray - West Springfield Fire Chief William M.Flaherty, left holds a plague made in honor of his father, John J. Flaherty ,center the retired West Side Fire Chief as Massachusetts State Fire Marshall, Stephen D. Coan, right looks on following a ceremony at the Norris J. Quinn Fire Training Center, where a classroom is being named after the former Chief. The event was held Wednesday at the Indian Orchard site.

SPRINGFIELD – Scores of fire officials from throughout the region and beyond gathered at the Springfield Fire Training facility Wednesday to honor retired West Springfield Fire Chief John J. Flaherty and his commitment to the creation of a regional training facility here.

Flaherty, who served as chief from 1986 to 2003, was a long-time member of the state Fire Training Council and a strong advocate for the creation of a regional training facility.

“We are here today to honor a great fire chief and a great friend, and I have to say what touches me the most, the patriarch of a great American family,” State Fire Marshal Stephen D. Coan said.

The regional facility, to be built on the grounds of the city’s current facility on Grochmal Avenue in Indian Orchard, is edging closer to fruition. Coan told those attending the ceremony that he has long thought of naming a classroom inside the facility in honor of Flaherty.

Coan said Flaherty regularly brought up the issue during the training council’s monthly meetings in Stowe.

“At each one of those meetings, Chief Flaherty would advocate very strongly for the needs of fire training in the western part of the state, most particularly in the creation of a Western Massachusetts Fire Academy,” said Coan. “It’s John and others with him, over the many years of planning that kept us focused on this very important project.”

“They worked tirelessly and never gave up on the dream of having a Western Massachusetts academy,” said Flaherty’s son, William M. Flaherty, current chief of the West Springfield Fire Department.

Gov. Deval Patrick included a $10 million appropriation in the state’s capital budget plan several years ago for the regional academy.

Flaherty, accompanied by his wife, Mary, his children and grandchildren and numerous well-wishers, attended the ceremony.

“John, we are happy to report that the negotiations with the state are almost over and the reality of locating a regional training center right here is just around the corner,” said Springfield Fire Commissioner Gary G. Cassanelli.

Afterwards, Flaherty described the honor as “Overwhelming....I really don’t feel that the honor should go to me,” he said. “It should go to all the Western Mass chiefs who have been working on it for the last 20 years.

Other speakers included Greenfield Fire Chief Michael J. Winn and president of the Western Massachusetts Fire Chiefs’ Association; Longmeadow Fire Chief Eric Madison of the Hampden County Fire Mutual Aid Association and West Springfield Mayor Edward J. Gibson.